President Barack Obama, accompanied by Coast Guard Adm. National Incident Commander Thad Allen, right, makes remarks in Theodore, Ala., Monday June 14, 2010. A group of Gulf Coast senators is urging Obama to keep fines from the 2010 oil spill on the Gulf Coast. (Press-Register, John David Mercer)

Gulf Coast political leaders are continuing to push back against a potential settlement between the U.S. Department of Justice and BP that would shift control of billions of dollars in fines from the 2010 oil spill away from the states and to the federal government.

A bipartisan group of eight U.S. senators is urging President Barack Obama not to compromise the Restore Act, which directs 80 percent of Clean Water Act penalties to the states harmed by the catastrophe.

The group of Gulf Coast senators said they have "grave concerns about developments of the settlement terms" stemming from a report Oct. 1 by the Press-Register. The newspaper said that the U.S. Department of Justice was looking to shift more of the fines to Natural Resource Damage assessments instead of the Clean Water Act.

“As you will recall, the Restore Act passed with broad bipartisan support, clearly illustrating the will of Congress – and the millions of Gulf Coast residents we represent – that the significant Clean Water Act penalties owed should be directed toward the Gulf’s ecological and economic recovery under the local input and control guidelines established by the law,” the senators wrote.

“Circumventing the will of Congress by shortchanging the Restore Act is wholly unacceptable to us. We urge you to reject such an approach.”

The letter was signed by Democratic senators Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Bill Nelson of Florida, as well as Republican senators Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions of Alabama, Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker of Mississippi, Marco Rubio of Florida and John Cornyn of Texas.

The only Gulf Coast senators not signing the letter were Republicans Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas and David Vitter of Louisiana.

Both the Justice Department and BP have declined to comment on any ongoing settlement negotiations.

The potential deal would save BP billions of dollars in taxes, since NRDA fines are deductible while Clean Water fines are not. It also would give the federal government greater say over how the money gets spent. NRDA fines flow through the U.S. Treasury and have relatively strict guidelines requiring them to be spent on restoration of wildlife and habitats.

The settlement would dramatically alter the distribution of funds along the Gulf Coast.

Louisiana, which bore the brunt of environmental damage from the spill, potentially could reap hundreds of millions of additional dollars through NRDA. Mississippi, Alabama and Texas would likely be the big losers if fines are steered away from the Clean Water Act.

Garret Graves, senior environmental advisor to Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, told Reuters news service that the state expects to be compensated for damages regardless of the legal means.

"Every statistic that's out there in regard to the impact of the spill clearly points to a disproportionate impact on the state of Louisiana, and Louisiana's focus will be ensuring that we fulfill our legal obligation to address all of these impacts to the Gulf," Graves said.